A day after uplifting the ban on limited imports of sugar, cotton, and wheat from India, the Pakistan government on Thursday reversed the move after facing political backlash. The Economic Coordination Council of Pakistan on Wednesday had announced that the import permits on sugar, cotton, and wheat from India would be approved in an effort to rampant inflations. 

Pakistani politicians criticised the government’s move that came as an apparent thaw in relations with India.

The decision to revoke the ban was taken “in the interest of the people,” Pakistani Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said when he was asked that why the trade between two rival nations was resuming despite India’s unchanged position on Kashmir. 

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However, on Thursday, Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the decision to revoke the ban has been “deferred” until New Delhi restores Kashmir’s special status. 

The trade and diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan were suspended in 2019 by Islamabad after New Delhi imposed direct rule on Kashmir, enforcing a heavy security lockdown in the territory. After that, both nations withdrew their top diplomats while consular staff was expelled or withdrawn.

There has been a frosty stand-off since, but signs of rapprochement recently have included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan exchanging letters, as well as a resumption of talks last week on the use of resources from their shared Indus River.

Pakistan’s economy is in the doldrums, a position made worse by a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen the reintroduction of partial lockdowns across the country.

The import of half a million tons of sugar would likely have slashed prices by up to 20 percent ahead of the forthcoming fasting month of Ramadan, when consumption soars.

The economic committee had also paved the way for three million tons of wheat to be brought in, as well as unspecified quantities of cotton and yarn.

Bloomberg reported last week that the United Arab Emirates had brokered secret back-channel talks between the two South Asian nations.